In an era when judges often give the
final word against Republican extremism, Democratic judges are more
important than ever. That’s why we endorse Martha Good and Bruce Whitman
for Ohio’s First District Court of Appeals.

Remove Democrat and Republican for a
second. Assume there are two candidates outside of partisan labels.
Candidate A is the current sitting senator. He has a clear record and
policies to run on. Candidate B is the challenger. He has little record
and policies, and he’s been caught being dishonest time and time again —
to the extent that one major newspaper gave him an award for lying so
much.

On March 4, 1933, Franklin Delano
Roosevelt officially became president of the United States. At the time,
the new president faced a massive financial crisis and depression. The
nation had an outstanding 24.9 percent unemployment rate, and faith in
the financial system was nearly nonexistent. But with a Democratic
majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and 64 percent Democratic
majority in the Senate, FDR managed to pass a series of laws within 100
days of inauguration that helped set the economy on track.

Rigged? Wait, what?
Truth be told, CityBeat would love
to endorse a Democrat for the First Congressional District. Generally
speaking, we do not support Rep. Steve Chabot. We don’t like his
opposition to Obama’s jobs bills. We don’t like how he went along with
the debt-ceiling crisis of 2011 that nearly brought down the entire
economy and led S&P to downgrade the U.S. credit rating from a AAA
rating to a AA+ rating. We don’t like how he amended a transportation
law to make it so Cincinnati can’t get streetcar funding from the
federal government. So we would love to endorse a Democratic opponent to
contrast Chabot.

Under the Ohio Constitution, voters are
asked every 20 years, “Shall there be a convention to revise, alter, or
amend the constitution?” That’s what Issue 1 is all about. If voters
approve Issue 1, the General Assembly, which is currently controlled by
Republicans, will set rules for how constitutional delegates are
elected. The delegates will then go to the convention and decide what,
if any, constitutional amendments should be suggested to voters. The
process essentially bypasses the petition system for constitutional
amendments, which requires constitutional proposals obtain a certain
amount of signatures from registered voters before being put on a
ballot.

Ohioans might not realize it yet, but
Issue 2 could be the most important item on the ballot in 2012. If
voters approve Issue 2, it would place redistricting in the hands of an
independent citizens commission. Currently, elected officials handle the
redistricting process, and they have used it time and time again for
politically advantageous ways.

CityBeat recently covered
Cincinnati Public School’s (CPS) financial problems and what makes the
levy renewal a necessity for the school (“Battered But Not Broken,”
issue of Oct. 3). Under the broken state funding system for schools, CPS
has to rely on levies to sustain and improve its education program. If
CPS doesn’t get this levy renewed, it will be down $51.5 million — or
approximately 11 percent of its budget — in 2015. That’s a hard hit to
take after a decade of budget cuts at CPS. The school district has
already cut about 22 percent of its total staff in the last 10 years and
closed down 17 buildings. It shouldn’t have to do more.

We like how Democratic Commissioner Todd
Portune tried to keep funding for mental health and elderly services the
same with a very minor tax hike that would have made up for property
values dropping. We like his support for the streetcar. We like how he
can rein in the two Republicans on the Board of Commissioners.

Ohio is a swing state, but there is very
little in our state government that reflects that right now. Republicans
dominate the General Assembly. Republicans dominate the governorship
and other executive positions. The Ohio Supreme Court is no different.
It is currently dominated by Republican justices in a striking 6-1
margin.

One of the most striking developments in
the past two years is the rising extremism of the Republican party. From
privatization to social issues to Senate Bill 5, Republicans have taken
Ohio in a hard turn to the right. Here at CityBeat, we’ll take the alternative. We support the Democratic takeover of the Ohio General Assembly.